Wagga Wagga City Council gets approval to knock down Hampden Bridge

The demolition of Wagga Wagga's iconic Hampden Bridge has been given the green light.

The Wagga Wagga City Council has received planning approval for the $2m demolition of the bridge, however the development application requires the bridge's pylons be retained.

Director of Infrastructure Services, Heinz Kausche, says council is looking to amend that, so nothing of the structure remains.

Mr Kausche says in the meantime, the project can still get underway.

"At this stage the process to amend the development application will probably take several weeks," he said.

The western abutment, which has got the date stone on it, all that side of the bridge will remain and will form part of a legacy project so that we will have some history there and fabric of the bridge to remember it.

Wagga Wagga City Council Director of Infrastructure Services, Heinz Kausche

"That won't stop us though, in that the contractor has already started mobilising plant equipment to Wagga, pre fabricating some of the supports that he needs to proceed with the demolition of the bridge, so that will happen concurrently as we apply for the amendment to the DA."

But how the Hampden Bridge will be knocked down still remains unclear, as Mr Kausche explains.

"Constructing temporary supports, so basically building another bridge if you like to support the existing bridge so he can pull that bridge down in small sections," he said.

"He's had another look at that in a bit more details, got a bit more information, had a very detailed inspection of the bridge and he's actually looking at different methods of demolishing the bridge."

The Wagga Wagga City Council is assuring local residents parts of the Hampden Bridge will be retained, when it is pulled down.

Mr Kausche says work could start within weeks.

"Certainly there's every intention to maintain some of the components of the bridge from a heritage perspective," he said.

"The western abutment, which has got the date stone on it, all that side of the bridge will remain and will form part of a legacy project so that we will have some history there and fabric of the bridge to remember it."

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